God, I can't wait to see where this goes. I'm so glad this is a real thing:

Quote:

Former Toronto Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell says he wasn't allowed to coach Andrea Bargnani the way he would have liked to because the franchise felt Bargnani wouldn't be able to handle it.

Mitchell believes this could be one reason why Bargnani hasn't turned out to be the franchise player some thought he could become.

"I wasn't allowed to coach Andrea the same way I was allowed to coach Jose (Calderon)," Mitchell told Tim & Sid on Sportsnet 590 The Fan on Wednesday. "I was a hard ass on Jose; I was hard on him, but look at the type of player he turned out to be.

"I was not allowed to be that tough on Andrea because within the organization we felt he couldn't take it. And my whole thing was if he can't take it then we can't build around him. And no one thought Jose could take it, and Jose did."

Mitchell added that it was determined early in the process that he should go easy on Bargnani.

"I think because he was the No. 1 pick and a lot was invested in him, I just think people in the organization thought my coaching style would be too tough on Andrea."

The 49-year-old contrasted the way the Raptors treated Bargnani to the way the Minnesota Timberwolves handled Kevin Garnett -- a tall, skilled player also drafted first overall in the 1995 NBA Draft -- when the future MVP broke into the league.

Mitchell, who played with the Timberwolves from 1995-2002, said their coach Bill Blair was very hard on Garnett in his rookie year but he believes that made the 14-time all-star the player he eventually developed into.

"It's not whether Andrea has talent, the question is Andrea needs to make up his mind and decide how great he wants to be," Mitchell said. "Andrea needs to look in the mirror and decide does he really want to be a good player? Or does he just want to make his money and be one of the guys? It's on him because the opportunity's there.

"He just doesn't seem like he has the passion for the game. It don't seem like it's important enough to him."

The Italian's play has been criticized by many throughout his career, especially this season, and some fans and analysts have suggested that he should never have been selected first overall by the Raptors in the 2006 NBA Draft.

Mitchell agrees to some extent, but said the Raptors ultimately made the best decision for them at the time.

"That was a tough draft. I believe in that draft if Brandon Roy didn't have the knee issues he would have been the No. 1 pick, but the reason we passed on Brandon Roy is the reason you see now, his knees," Mitchell explained.

"I'm not disappointed from the standpoint that we took Andrea, but I'm disappointed in that Andrea has yet to reach the potential he has because … Andrea has all-star type talent. He just hasn't played up to it yet.

"I wouldn't say Andrea has been a bust, I just think that year there wasn't a defined No. 1 overall pick like LeBron (James) or Anthony Davis or John Wall or anybody like that."

Mitchell became the Raptors coach in 2004 but was fired in 2008 and hasn't been a head coach in the NBA since.

Bargnani has been hit with the injury bug this season -- he hasn't played since Dec. 10 -- but in 21 games played the 27-year-old is averaging only 16 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

This has been pretty much what we all thought for a few years now. I'm glad he came out and confirmed our suspicions. This makes Colangelo look even worse, which is great as far as I'm concerned.

bokes15

01-02-2013 09:47 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

Yes, as Chambs said, it was obvious but this just confirms the suspicions. I bet if Jay Triano and Duane Casey could speak openly on their internal conversations they would say the exact same thing. Even this season, games that Bargs should've clearly been on the bench in favor of Ed Davis but yet he was still getting 35 minutes+. And then saying Bargnani's play is unacceptable but giving him free range to jack up 3's and jog up and down the floor.

Quote:

"He just doesn't seem like he has the passion for the game. It don't seem like it's important enough to him."

And that pretty much sums up why I don't like the guy. He has been given 50 million reasons to give a shit and he still doesn't. Get him out of here.

BRabbiT

01-03-2013 09:18 AM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

not exactly shocking. bargnani is so smug about his abilities:lol

DJMason

01-03-2013 11:11 AM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

I'm just gonna come out and admit that Sam Mitchel is my second favourite coach of all time for the Raps behind Butch. I never would have fired him, especially now knowing he was handcuffed re: Bargs. Never quite got all the hate for him.

Chamberlain

01-03-2013 02:39 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

I'd really like to see lilbeastnani's reaction to this. Not to be a dick or anything, but we've all pretty much made up our minds about Bargnani/Colangelo, just wondering if he has a different take on things. Where you at beast?

kmart

01-03-2013 04:41 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

Quote:

Originally Posted by DJMason

I'm just gonna come out and admit that Sam Mitchel is my second favourite coach of all time for the Raps behind Butch. I never would have fired him, especially now knowing he was handcuffed re: Bargs. Never quite got all the hate for him.

Sam Mitchell had to be the dumbest coach of all time. You know he is when Kobe pops 81 points on your team. Theres a reason why he doesn't have a job right now.

As for the Bargs comments, I would agree. Bargs has been nurtured ever since Mitchell left. Triano put him in the starters role and he stayed there.

FCardelle

01-03-2013 06:28 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

Jose Calderon was a huge pro when he was coached by Sam. Saying that him being hard on Jose is the reason of his greatness is ridiculous, pure bullshit.

Zan Tabak

01-03-2013 08:08 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

Can we just trade Bargnani already. At this point I'd be willing to accept a bag of basketballs for him.

RaininThrees

01-03-2013 10:41 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zan Tabak

Can we just trade Bargnani already. At this point I'd be willing to accept a bag of basketballs for him.

You'll likely have to take back a bag of really expensive basketballs that are on lay-away and you're going to have to wind up paying a year or two from now.

Amnesty him.

lilbeastnani

01-04-2013 10:43 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chamberlain

I'd really like to see lilbeastnani's reaction to this. Not to be a dick or anything, but we've all pretty much made up our minds about Bargnani/Colangelo, just wondering if he has a different take on things. Where you at beast?

:oldlol: Didn't even notice this thread or comment with all the focus I been putting into the fantasy league.. but I will say this. No matter what coach he got in Italy, in the NBA, in whatever league or team he plays on he was never gonna be Kevin Garnett. Even a hardass coach like Popovic wouldn't mold him into KG. That's an unfair expectation. His game is different than that. Just like how early on everyone wanted Dirk to be like Tim Duncan until they realized he just has a different style of play. I think a different team would've suited him better than a tougher coach, just my opinion.

Chamberlain

01-04-2013 10:51 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

Yeah, he was kind of forced into a bad situation when he got here with Bosh already being here. I don't know why Colangelo thought it would work.

Nobody expected him to be a KG type player though.

It's not inconceivable to think that if Mitchell had been tougher on him that he would have reached Dirk-like abilities. Dirk was pretty soft and perimeter oriented when he came into the league also, but he's learned to play in the post, rebound and be a pretty good defender.

I think another thing Mitchell is referring to is Bargnani's apparent lack of focus/drive. I think he feels that if he was able to light a fire under his ass, Bargnani would play with a lot more passion.

That's just one man's opinion. There are plenty of ways Mitchell's comments can be translated, but it still confirms a suspicion we all had.

lilbeastnani

01-04-2013 10:57 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

I think that Mitchell thought/thinks that he was a better coach than he is due to us winning that one Atlantic division title in a soft year when we were the only +.500 team in our division and as a 3rd seed got taken out by the 6 seed Nets. To say that a coach that was harder on him might've made him improve more on some of his weaknesses is not inconceivable, but to say that coach would be Sam Mitchell I would say is an overstatement.

Chamberlain

01-04-2013 11:01 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilbeastnani

I think that Mitchell thought/thinks that he was a better coach than he is due to us winning that one Atlantic division title in a soft year when we were the only +.500 team in our division and as a 3rd seed got taken out by the 6 seed Nets. To say that a coach that was harder on him might've made him improve more on some of his weaknesses is not inconceivable, but to say that coach would be Sam Mitchell I would say is an overstatement.

:oldlol: Agreed. I'm not saying Mitchell was that coach, but in his mind he probably was. I just think that's what he means (as opposed to making the KG comparison).

I also hate how overrated that 2006 team was. Jason Kidd missed the majority of the year and the Nets were not in a playoff position AT ALL until he came back. When he came back they went on a tear. They were clearly the best team in the Division. Also, the Sixers still sucked, the Knicks still sucked, and the Celtics were the worst team in the league (I remember because I was hoping they'd tank and get Durant/Oden, but ended up with the 5th pick after the lottery, which led to the KG/Allen moves).

So yeah, that years Atlantic division "championship" was a god damn sham.

lilbeastnani

01-04-2013 11:20 PM

Re: Mitchell: I was forced to go easy on Bargnani

Yeah, we were definitely CLEARLY the underdog in that series against the Nets. It's amazing how as a 3rd seed it would've been an upset had we won that year. And unfortunately, rather than to take notice of what happened and make some changes to make us a better team, BC believed we were a great team that just needed tweaks. The guy is so short sighted. Then we lose to Orlando the following year and almost get swept and he thinks the answer is to trade Ford/Hibbert/Rasho/filler to get a 30 year old out of prime JO because he used to be an all-star.